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China promised to send more tourists, Lai says

Tourism Bureau Director-General Janice Lai (賴瑟珍) said on Thursday that China’s top tourism official has promised to help pave the way for more Chinese to travel to Taiwan for sightseeing trips.

Lai made the remarks on the sidelines of a presentation on Taiwan’s tourist attractions and resources in Nanjing.

Lai is heading a 150-member delegation on a tourism promotion tour of China, which has so far taken her to Beijing and Nanjing.

Lai said Shao Qiwei (邵琪偉), director of China’s National Tourism Administration, told a Beijing workshop hosted by the Taiwanese delegation on Tuesday that Chinese authorities were studying measures to allow and encourage more Chinese to visit Taiwan for sightseeing purposes.

The two sides of the Taiwan Strait signed two landmark agreements in mid-June on the opening of direct cross-strait weekend charter flights and the further opening of Taiwan to more Chinese tourists.

The agreement allows up to 3,000 Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan per day, but the number of actual arrivals has so far fallen far short of expectations, averaging just 230 per day in August.

Lai said Taiwan is looking to double the number of Chinese tourist arrivals to 20,000 a month by the end of this year.

Lai said an expansion of direct flight services would be high on the agenda of a new round of cross-strait talks scheduled for later this month or early next month.

On Thursday, Lai visited the director of Jiangsu Province’s tourism bureau to exchange views on the promotion of bilateral tourism and cultural exchanges.

More than 100 Chinese travel agents in Nanjing, the provincial capital of Jiangsu, and the surrounding area attended the tourism presentation to get first-hand information on resources and the latest developments in Taiwan’s tourism industry.

A similar event in Beijing was also very successful, attracting more than 400 travel service executives or tour operators, Lai said, adding that the Taiwanese delegation has been offering various tour packages, including short-stays that could be attractive to Chinese salaried workers looking for a quick getaway.

Also See: Chinese tourist numbers far below agreed-upon levels
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